Mary Berry Tuna Pasta Bake

Yields: 6 portion
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 25 mins Total: 50 mins

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Why Should You Try This Tuna Pasta Bake?

It’s been a long time since I made baked pasta. I wanted a hearty meal that could be prepared easily on a Saturday morning for a quick tasty lunch. I wanted to prepare something different for lunch using tuna and peas since I needed to clean the freezer from all the packs of peas I have stored right after harvest. Basically, there’s no difference if you use canned or frozen peas and I always advise to use first whatever you have in your pantry so that you don’t have to throw away any food that goes bad.

To complete the sauce for the pasta, before putting it in the oven, I added some béchamel freshly prepared with butter, flour and milk, corn, and a large handful of cheddar cheese. Effectively, cheddar cheese is the secret ingredient for this kind of pasta because it becomes irresistibly stringy when cooked. I advise you to cook the pasta until that crunchy crust forms on the surface, which is the icing on the cake for any baked pasta.

Ingredients

• 14 oz rigatoni pasta
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
• ⅓ cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups strong cheddar, grated
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 2 x 6 oz tuna cans, drained and flaked
• 2 x 6 oz sweetcorn cans, drained
• 1 cup frozen peas
• chopped parsley to serve

Method

PRE-PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 180C
2. Boil the rigatoni or penne “al dente” by cooking them less than stated on the pack. They should remain a little hard so that then they will continue to cook in the oven.

COOK THE BECHAMEL SAUCE

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan stirring in the flour.
2. Gradually stir in the milk to make a thick white sauce.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in almost all of the grated cheddar except a handful to leave at the end.

MIX THE PASTA WITH THE SAUCE & INGREDIENTS

1. Drain the pasta, mix with the bechamel sauce, drained tuna, drained sweetcorn and a large handful of chopped parsley then season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the pasta mix to a baking dish and top with the rest of the grated cheddar.
3. Bake for 15-20 mins until the cheese on top is golden and starting to brown.

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